3 speeds

[Matt2000]

does anyone know if i have even the remote chance of getting a 3 speed (would like a mountaineer) for under £200??

[]i know it is a bit stupid, but i don't mind the condition.

tried the search, but it didn't help.

[Shodog]

I would say you could get a chassis for 200 but a complete truck would be out of the question. Most people who use ebay or post on message forums know the value of these trucks.

[Dangerbus]

I have recently got back into Tamiya cars after having many models as a kid. I was amazed at the prices people on ebay were asking.

I always wanted a 3 speed truck but with current prices in the hundreds for an example needing some serious tlc I thought I would never get one.

I decided to post a wanted ad on my companies internal mail system and with in a day or so, I had a frog, holiday buggy, hornet, all being offered with people only wanting beer money for them or in some cases free!

The icing on the cake had to be the blazing blazer, which although had a damaged gearbox was offered for just £5.

I hope this reply give you some encouragement to keep looking as there are many places people get rid of these little gems.

Keep looking!

[SubaruBrattJunkie]

In short, no. The three speed is by far and away the most popular model to have in ones collection. It isn't fast, can't really off road. Is really kind of fragile, parts are drop dead expensive. A nib one would cost as much as a good real car. Junk is 6 to 8 hundred bucks. Building one from spares would cost twice what bitting the bullit and paying the cost of a running complete one would, just take longer. The spares of some parts are so hard to get that there are guys finding it worth it to re-pop them in resin and doing a good job, Purple Rob and Jim Sourbeck to name only 2. You do hear the ocassional unsubstantiated story of the 200 hundred 3 speed, but they are as rare as barn stored Fraizer-Nashes. I was smitten with them until I got one. I am glad I have it, it really is a work of modeling art, but I watched them for a year and I should have bought one when I started looking rather than waiting for the bargain to come along. Needless to say, the price went up, not down, and every time I found a "bargain" it became a non-bargain before the sale was over. One of our chaps had one on that needed restoration and wanted 450 pounds, which is the average going price for the middle range and descent and correct, restored is somewhat, read 1/3rd, more. The last NIB I saw went for over 2000.00 US. So if you really want one, dust off the mastercard and get ready to spend the going rate, otherwise you are in for a long wait. I agree with the above gent about almost every other car, sometimes they are free, but not 3 speeds.

[netsmithUK]

In short, Yes []

I've bought 3 for less than £100.00 each.

All you need to do is

a) be patient

look in the less obvious places - ebay is a nono. Try the local ad papers etc

c) ask family, friends, work colleagues if they dont' have them get them to ask their friends etc. you'd be surprised at what people

have stuffed in their attics

What you have to remember is £100 for a 20 yrs old toy 'not working because the batteries are flat' gathering dust in somes attic is a lot of money for a lot of people that are not into the scene at all.

You only need to spend more if you want one quickly. In which case you are talking about buying from a collector that knows the value so will charge the going rate.

Keep looking

Chris

[Dirt Racer]

Good info!!... Chris i was wondering if the odd car boot sales are any good? and how many of those do you need to go to and how far does one need to go to find one, is there a particular car boot sale place that is good for rc cars?

[netsmithUK]

I did the carboot searching circuit for a couple of years, fitting in as many as 3 on a sunday, but in the end its a bit of a needle in a haystack trying to find things like that. I think in the total time I spent on the carboots I only scored a couple of clodbusters, a couple of monster beetles and some other bits and bobs. (that said I did get some nice dinky cars and static tamiya models that fetch a packet on ebay, so keep your eyes out for other stuff while you are looking)

Local ads are really the route to go - if anyone is selling anything give them a ring, as they might be advertising some beat up scooby, but thats only because they think 'the old metal truck' in the loft is a pile of junk that is not work selling I got a hilux and all radio gear for £70.00, when I got round there to pick it up the guy had found a 'chevy blazer' body and let me have that for nothing []

Another deal involved going to look at a beat up BigWig, while I was there talking the guy rang his mate who had an old truck, he bought it over and I ended up going home with the bigwig and a very tidy Hilux.

Don't get me wrong though, these deals don't happen every day. Its a lot of donkey work. And you end up having to makes lots of phone calls, and going to see lots of junk before you find any jewels, so don't give up just because you don't get one by the end of the month [] - but the fun is you might just get lucky on the very next call

Chris

[Dirt Racer]

Hehe thanks a bunch for that chris. Very informative and educational. Think ill be a local newspaper friendly from now on [][]

[Mu5tanggt]

Friends and local flea markets are the way to go, just scored an almost perfect bruiser last year for free from a friend. Just needed to add a radio. They're still out there just getting harder to find.[]Also scored a RC10 graphite from the owner of my companies son for $20.

[simensays]

I love hunting down old Tamiya cars locally - I never use Ebay for other than parts. The cars are out there, you just got'sta be patient like Chris said, and a bit creative. There's no doubt that you can find 3spds for less than £200 - that's about how much I've paid for all of my 3spds combined []

Good Luck!

[jimbob4000]

hi, i was wondering why every one was so keen on the 3spds, is because they are brilliant off road, is it becuse they are rare, what?

Thanks

Adam

[jims hobby shop]

the trucks are so real realistic with the frame rails,front and rear axles,springs, that look like a real truck.they are set so you can go in 2 wheel drive or 4 wheel drive,much like my old 1979 ford f-250,it was fulltime 4 wheel drive with a 351 modified cleveland or a big block how you look at it.Torque was snapping !!!!!truck was weighed at 4700 pounds.,you could lock it in to 4 wheel low (talk about rock crawler !!)the old girl could easily climb a 6 foot snowbank.high lock on the expressway i got less than 6 miles to a gallon with a back wind with 2000 pounds of salt in the bed!!.the 3 speed trucks rule for a tamiya collector !!!

**** i wish i still had my truck !!

go around a corner and the front tires were talking !!

sorry for rambling on !

jim

[Floyd]

quote:Originally posted by jsourbeck@sbcglobal.net

with a 351 modified cleveland or a big block how you look at it.

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id="quote">id="quote">

Ummm , not to get technical or anything , but the 351's ( clevland , windsor and modified ) are all small blocks .....[]

[jonny_bravo]

Yes you can get lucky with 3 speeds[],.. I never thought i would own one,. as of Sunday I now have two for £250,. both of them need a degree of work but i am well happy[8D] ,.. still had to raid the 'real car' fund for the cash though!,. luckily i have a very understanding wife!

[yannick]

you need to be lucky...a fiend of me bought a march 782 bmw and a Ralt RT2 Hart 420R, only 3 euros for both the cars and they are new built and were never driven before...he bought them on a flee market.

[RDS Improvements]

Well they are out there but as everyone has said, EBay is not the best option. Just got back into the hobby, but back in 83 had a Blazer which was stolen by someone who was watching my stuff. Just purchased two trucks over the past two weeks off ebay. One a Bruiser for $400 US and then another one Hilux for just under that. The Hilux was being sold by a guy who had no idea what he had. Opening bid was $10 US but he included photo's, so things got out of hand. Received a phone call from him after I won the truck, and he wanted to know what the big deal was about these trucks as he was given the truck and other RC items and almost thru the truck away 8 times. He initialy guessed he would get $50 for it.

[The Dodge]

I think it just a question of luck as with anything collectable. I read some classic car mags and you here the 'barn find' stories of people finding old SS100 Jaguars etc and the owner just wants it dragged out of his shed and gone, for pennies. The only thing i will say is if you only use ebay you can get a steal in one of two ways. A: Search for mispelt names and generic terms Eg 'old rc truck' however so may people use the bay now you find these mis spellings some times get nearly as many hits as the properly advertised stuff, and you only need two collectors and the bids fly up. B: Check the newly listeds frequently. So far i have had three (i think) genuine bargains this way, all with 'buy it now' A ratty Sandscorcher but with a huge box of assorted vintage spares. £35 A hotshot built and run about 3 times with beatties bag £30 and my Hilux although incomplete because its had an ic conversion £125

It kinda becomes an obsession but these cars do turn up, you've got to be quick tho. The three deals above had all been viewed 5 times tops.

[rtb2000]

quote:Originally posted by Mu5tanggt

Friends and local flea markets are the way to go, just scored an almost perfect bruiser last year for free from a friend. Just needed to add a radio. They're still out there just getting harder to find.[]Also scored a RC10 graphite from the owner of my companies son for $20.

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id="quote">id="quote">mustanggt has the right idea i picked up a nearly complete hilux at a yard sale for 75.usd had box and manual and radio and few new spares i bout wrecked trying to park and run up there to get it[:I]

[Call me Keith]

Unknowledgable people and buy it now are your best chances on ebay I have found. Last November I was lucky enough to stumble upon a Buy it Now auction (just listed) for a Bruiser in excellent condition with another bruiser still in the original box which had 90% of the parts still in the package. Buy it now was $359 usd. I couldn't type fast enough. I think these are far and few between, but they are out there.

Keith